Mizuki Matsumoto
| class="xl66" style="border-top:none;border-left:none"| |} 'Appearance' Mizuki is clearly recognizable as a full-blooded Héian woman with the long, flowing style of black hair popular in the faraway home of her ancestors. Her skin is noticeably pallid compared to others of her ethnicity, though this is due more to her exceptionally poor health than to any fair-skinned ancestor. She has a frail, slender build which, coupled with her persistent unsettling cough and habit of walking with the assistance of a walking stick and a personal aide, gives many the impression that she perpetually lingers on the threshold of Death’s door. Her deep brown eyes are typically ringed by dark creases resulting from yet another extended session of planning or study. The lesser-known truth of the matter is that her fragile constitution results from a Héian blood pact inherited from her father's bloodline which bolsters her mind at the expense of her health. She dresses in dark colors to save her the trouble of cleaning off the soot and debris of her projects, typically wearing a long black lab coat over a tunic, leggings, and sturdy black jackboots. She’s often seen sipping tea to sooth her recurring cough, and her attendants always keep her preferred blends on hand at her request. Points of Interest: Appears to be perpetually stricken with some kind of illness; coughs a lot and tends to walk with either a cane or an assistant. 'Personality' Mizuki is a woman who survives in society by virtue of her expertise, not her ability to play particularly well with others. She tends to be short and curt in conversation and has a constant inability to properly read social cues that others might take for granted. Still, she can occasionally prove to be a surprisingly deep source of conversation for those who don’t insist on wasting her precious time with small talk and meaningless pleasantries. She got into her line of work because she loves it to the point of obsession, often muttering to herself about her latest hypotheses under her breath in the halls. Her work is generally either the first or second thing on her mind, and she often keeps a notepad on hand to make note of striking inspiration even in the middle of a conversation. She’s a firm believer in results over all else and tends to be fiercely loyal to those who respect her for her skills and are willing to overlook her shortcomings in interpersonal relations. Any attempts to dismiss her based on her gender, relative youth, physical infirmity, social bluntness, or any combination thereof generally end up earning her cold, quiet hatred. The ends always justify the means in Mizuki’s eyes, and so-called ethical codes are just obstructions to the new generation of scientific innovations which stand to greatly benefit the world as a whole. She’s not in the business of sharing corporate secrets with outsiders, but it’s possible they’d be better off not knowing anyways. 'History' Mizuki Matsumoto, born into a reasonably well-to-do family of Héian immigrants in Dauphane, learned to deal with society in her own way from an early age: after her father Hiroshi was publicly disgraced by his apparent failure in his work on the shadowy A.R.M.S. project and ruined her family name, she developed a quiet contempt for her mocking peers and focused her school life on hard results, not popularity contests. Her obsessive focus combined with her prodigious natural aptitude for mathematics, science, and magic theory resulted in her quickly surpassing her peers and becoming one of the preeminent women in arcane science. At this point, she began to become aware of the fact that she had inherited her bloodline's Héian pact with the Elder Spider which had been bolstering her mental faculties at the expense of her health. By the time her studies came to a close, she had already grown into the weak and sickly yet brilliant scientist which she would continue to be during her career. Perhaps it was her eye for potential earnings or perhaps it was her vague sense of misanthropy which led her into the field of military applications of science, but whatever the reason, she took to it like a natural and quickly made a name for herself with her work in the field of magic-infused weaponry at the Chuuten Corporation. A certain Mikado Tatsudoshi soon recognized her talents and promoted her to the position of Head Scientist. She became utterly loyal to Mikado and the Corporation, overjoyed at having found a group which valued her research over her pitiful attempts at office politicking and tolerated her eccentricities and considerable medical demands on the basis of her considerable talents. In her current position, she’s helped spearhead the development of the Chuuten ArcaTech department, which has given birth to more than a few children of her own imagining (including the somewhat egotistically abbreviated “Momentary Magic” line). She’s also been able to obtain the Project A.R.M.S. information “acquired” by Chuuten from her father some time ago and launched Chuuten’s first (unsuccessful) attempt at replicating the project, known as “Project A.R.M.S. MkII.” Despite her initial failure, successfully completing the project remains a high priority for her department. 'Advantages' *'Intelligence III (Common):' A natural quick thinker with a supernaturally-enhanced talent for analyzing and memorizing. *'Educated III (Uncommon):' A prodigiously talented student who completed her studies in record time and boasts excellent information retention from her school days. *'Leadership and Researchers II (Common):' Employs a staff of assistant researchers to support her projects, and is nearly always accompanied by an aide to attend to her medical needs. *'Expert Magitech I (Rare):' Has extensively studied the interplay of magic and technology as part of her career. *'Chuuten Corp. Research Lab: Locus I (Exceptional):' The research facilities at the Chuuten Corp. science division have been customized and streamlined at her behest to improve the efficiency of her work. Category:Character